


Flowers Through My Heart

by Angelicat2



Series: Sheith Angsty Week [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Day 1-unrequited/astral plane, Hanahaki Disease, Sheith Angst Week 2018, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 04:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15834162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: It turns out that the Galra can get hanahaki disease. Keith gets it after years of figuring his best friend can't love him back. One day, it goes too far and the rest find out.





	Flowers Through My Heart

Keith frowned as he watched Adam and Shiro interact. He wasn’t jealous, but he ached in a way he’d never experienced before. His chest hurt like he’d been stabbed a thousand times. He didn’t understand why he was feeling this way. It was only when Shiro smiled at the other man or when he laughed out loud or when he stared at the other with wide eyes or-

Keith felt a tickle in his throat. He hoped he wasn’t getting a cold. That was the last thing he needed. A cough bubbled from his throat as he covered his mouth.

“You okay, Keith?” Shiro asked with a worried look on his face.

“Just a cough,” Keith reassured the man whose eyes lingered on him for a few moments before he went back to talking to the other man by his side. Keith sighed softly as he felt the mark on his right wrist burn. It did that every time Keith felt like this. Letting out another cough, he pulled his hand back to see a purple flower petal. 

That had never happened before.

Veins ice cold, he stared at it. He’d coughed it up. Why? It didn’t make sense that he did. People didn’t just hack up flowers out of nowhere like he had. He’d never heard of it.

But then again, soulmates were a thing. Soulmates existed, so what could Keith know about this? Maybe it was connected to the bond? Keith glanced over at his best friend who snickered at something Adam said. Keith felt his eyes burn as his chest grew tight again.

Shiro would never love him back. He couldn’t feel the way Keith did. Even if Keith was his soulmate.

He had seen it. The other held his mark on his own right wrist, which Keith gazed at once when the wrist watch thing wasn’t on the older’s limb. Shiro didn’t know though. And Keith couldn’t let him know. Not when he was happily in a relationship. Not when he couldn’t care about Keith the way Keith cared about him.

“Keith?” The man’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, “Are you really okay? You’ve been staring at your hand for a few minutes now.”

“I’m fine,” Keith practically bristled before he took a deep breath and moved his hand to his lap, “Just tired. I’m going to go to bed.”

“Alright,” Keith ignored the man’s worried face staring into his back as he stood up and left the room, “Just get some rest. You know where to find me if something comes up.”

…..

Keith winced as he coughed again. The petals had been coming more often over the past six months. Now, each was coated with a thin layer of scarlet blood. It felt like thorns were ripping into his throat, squeezing into his chest in a way that was so familiar yet unknown. 

Shiro was back, but as unknowing as before. Keith knew he loved Shiro even more after that year apart. It wasn’t exactly brotherly love. He was sure. But he could never let Shiro know that. Not after Adam and his breakup. Not after what had happened to Shiro at Kerberos. Not after they had been thrown into a war. They didn’t have time for things like a confession-

“Damn it,” Keith coughed until his vision went white. Gagging, he spat up a whole flower. An aster. 

_Patience yields focus_

Of course...because his life loved to do this to him. Take his dad away from him with fire while he became the Guardian of Fire. Have his mom never be there for him only to find out that he was part Galra. Have him coughing up a flower that means ‘patience and love’ which he had only associated with Shiro. Great.

Sick of feeling like he was going to die from throwing up the purple plants, he threw the remaining ones into the trash before he grabbed his bayard. They were going to train soon anyway.

…..

Shiro was lost in thought as the whole team got into formation. Keith looked off. Shiro had noticed that Keith had been more subdued lately, always pale and exhausted. Shiro had noticed the way the younger had been subtly avoiding him for a long time now. Even before Kerberos, he had. Shiro thought it was the guy being anxious about possibly being Galra. Or that his best friend, once he had truly found out, was worried about being part of the race who had hurt him.

But Keith was even more off today. He was bone white and sweat covered his face even though they hadn't began. He was huffing a little like he was having trouble breathing. He even had much less energy as seen when the bot turned on and Keith missed three easy hits in a row. Shiro's concern on grew when he saw that the rest of the team had noticed, sending him unsure frowns to which he shrugged.

Just then, Keith flew across the room. He clattered to the ground with a grunt before collapsing to the floor. The older panicked slightly as he heard the other breathing weirdly, or rather, attempting to breathe.

“Stop training sequence!” He heard someone shout as he raced to Keith's side, freezing when he saw scarlet on the training floor. Gripping the other by his upper arms, he turned Keith from his side to his back. His eyes widened as he took in Keith's condition.

Keith was unresponsive, face pained. Red dripped from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to drag in a breath. Keith's chest heaved unevenly within the chest plate as if his chest had broken ribs or the plate was blocking his throat. Shiro quickly pulled the metal off, hoping it would help as he glanced at the others.

“Pidge,” Shiro stared at her, “I need to know if Keith is bleeding internally. He could have a punctured lung.”

“We need a healing pod,” he turned to the others as the green paladin typed away at her computer on her wrist. He didn’t know what was happening, but he wanted to help. He wanted Keith back to himself. Healthy and happy.

“Shiro,” Pidge cringed after a moment as Keith’s breathing grew even more ragged, “A pod won't help.”

“What do you mean?”

“He doesn't have a punctured lung,” Pidge stated slowly as she stared at the screen, “He...has flowers in his throat.”

“Flowers…”

Shiro frowned as he glanced at his wounded friend who was still breathing badly. Silence reigned through the room, only disrupted by rough weezing.

“Flowers?” Allura’s voice asked as Shiro looked over at her. Her face was pale and she stared at Keith with worry on her face. That in itself was strange because since she had been told Keith was Galra, she had been ignoring him. Something had to be very very wrong for this to happen.

“Yeah,” Pidge went on as she stared at her wrist computer, “As far as I can tell on the scan, Keith has thorns growing in his esophagus and chest. Some of them have punctured areas in his throat, but nothing too big as of yet.”

“It’s…” Lance paused as his brows moved down in concern and confusion, “It’s not anything I’ve heard of.”

“Me neither,” Hunk agreed weakly from the side, “No one I’ve ever known has had this happen.”

“Maybe he got it from the Weblem,” Pidge spoke up as Shiro frowned as another drop of red rolled off pale lips, “I mean, it could be a disease or maybe from any plants or animals we’ve seen.”

“Yeah,” the Yellow Paladin agreed with a shake of his head, “I mean, we have soulmates back on Earth, so anything is possible, I guess.”

“No,” Shiro jerked his head to the side as the princess stared at them with saddened eyes, “This isn’t...I know that what’s happening to Keith is not an Earth ailment.”

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked as his own brows moved down. He carefully held onto Keith’s hand, gently squeezing it, “Why haven’t we put him in a healing pod by now?”

“I mean to say,” the Altean looked at him, right at Shiro, as she gave an apologetic smile which didn’t reach her eyes, “That this is a Galran disease. He can't get in a pod.”

“What?” Lance asked as he held out his hands, “That's kind of rude. Even if Keith's Galra, you should still help. He's our teammate.”

“That's not what I mean,” she sighed as she rubbed her forehead, “I mean that the pod won't heal him. There's only two ways to heal it.”

“Maybe you should explain what “it” is,” Shiro muttered before he gazed at Keith again, “And what it's doing to Keith.”

“It's a disease known as Hanahaki disease,” Allura explained as she stared at Shiro still, “It's supposedly caused by someone feeling their own feelings are unrequited. That the person they love doesn't love them back.”

“Okay…”

“There's only two ways to cure it,” Allura frowned as she watched the injured paladin, “If the person returns the feelings or if Keith gets the flowers removed.”

The way she said it made Shiro furrow his brows further. 

“What aren't you telling us?”

“If the flowers are removed, so will his feelings for whoever he loves,” she frowned, “I don't...I don't wish for that to happen.”

“But the person is probably back on Earth,” Pidge stated as her golden eyes stared at Keith with tears gathering, “What if we have no choice?”

“We'll have to…”

Allura's words faded as Shiro focused in on something he hadn't noticed until now. On Keith's right arm, his black glove was ripped so he could see Keith's wrist. It held the very same symbol that had been on Shiro's own before his had been taken from him. Shiro felt his heart break and his blood freeze.

Keith was his soulmate. No wonder he had a disease where he felt Shiro would never love him back. This explained everything.

It explained the behavior he had back before Kerberos. How he started to avoid Shiro even then. How he had acted up when Shiro had forgotten to wear his muscle compressor device. How he'd gone silent and serious as Shiro said he was involved with Adam. It even explained the behavior after Shiro had gotten back. It explained everything.

“Keith,” Shiro sighed softly as he brushed a thumb over the other’s pale cheek. Before he could blink, dark eyes opened slightly just enough to see. Shiro could see that Keith was trying to hide just how much the sudden attack hurt, but he couldn’t hide the lines around his eyes or the fact that he was way too pale. Shiro didn’t like any of this, so his heart broke a little more every time his best friend - soulmate - breathed in. Keith opened his mouth to say something, but no voice came with as he thumped his head on the floor in temporary defeat. 

“ _Keith,_ ” he repeated in an even more depressed voice as he ran the same thumb over a patch of skin by the other’s eye. Shiro felt tears gathering in his eyes as Keith blinked sluggishly at him, “I...I’m sorry. I wish I’d known.”

Keith gripped his flesh arm as he tried to speak again, only getting loose sounds out. Shiro understood what he was getting across though. The younger didn’t want Shiro to feel like he had to care about him. He didn’t want to hold Shiro back from his dreams. He didn't want to hurt Shiro like that. Never would.

“Oh, Keith,” Shiro pulled the limp friend into a careful hug, “I will always care about you. Even back then, you were very important to me. I just…”

Shiro paused as he cleared his throat. Pulling back, he gently held Keith’s face in his hands as he gazed at him.

“I just didn’t realize my feelings were changing,” the older explained as he watched the other, “And I couldn’t say anything after the trials. I would never take advantage of you like that. You’re my best friend which is just as important as being my soulmate.”

Keith gave him an unsure look before he tipped his head forward. Shiro moved his shoulder so that his soulmate could rest his chin on it. He could feel warm breath on his neck as Keith rested against his side.

“I...love...you,” the soft whisper Shiro barely heard, but it filled him with warmth as he smiled softly into black hair.

“I love you too, Keith,” he hugged the other who relaxed against him even more, “Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Hair tickled his face as he felt Keith fall asleep on him. After a while, he twisted the other to rest on his lap so he was on his back. Nodding at Pidge, she grabbed her scanner before typing away on her screen. Gasping in surprise, her eyes widened and she stared at the sleeping paladin.

“It’s receding,” she muttered as the rest of the team blinked in surprise, “The thorns are gone, the petals are dissolving, and the plant is leaving his chest. We should be able to get him into a pod now.”

“Let’s do that,” Shiro stated as he pulled the other into his arms before getting up. Keith was going to be okay. They had some stuff to talk about.


End file.
